Mandukya Karika Lecture 090 on 15 February 2023
Full Transcript
Gaudapada, in this second chapter of the Vaitathya Prakaranam is discussing all the possible views that are entertained about the ātman.
Because whatever a person has been taught, whatever a person has understood and believes, that is the idea that he cherishes about God.
We have already seen until the 24th Karika, prana, manaha, buddhi, lokaha, etc. etc. The fact is, we have to remind ourselves that Gaudapada is not talking about anybody else but about each one of us.
At different times, whatever desire arises in our mind and that alone becomes the ultimate reality for us. This point I would like to emphasize again and again. Suppose somebody believes that there are svargalokas, etc. and then there a person can be extremely happy. Then he will cherish the idea that I would like to go to that loka and enjoy. So, what is ātman now? That enjoyment which is obtained only what I think in that svargaloka or prajāpatiloka or brahmaloka or heaven or samādhi, that alone becomes the ultimate concept.
So, it is not that they do not use this is ātman. They may not use such an expression. But that is the reality. Why do we say that? Because there is a law. Many times, I have mentioned it. We can never desire what we think is unreal. We can never desire what we think we know to be unreal. That is why in the waking state nobody will think that I would like to fly like a bird with two wings. That is not possible. So, this is what all of us are talking. At whatever time, whatever desire we cherish, and our thoughts will be following our desires, that particular thing will be our concept of God. God means what? The highest happiness.
Now we will proceed. Kārikā number 25.
Manai iti mano viduhu
Buddhir itcha tadvidaha
Chittam iti chittam viduhu
Dharma dharmaucha tadvidaha
The cognizers of the mind call it the mind. Of the buddhi, that is called what? Call the ātman as the buddhi. And of the citta, those who believe that citta is most important, that is the only reality, they call ātman as citta. And the knowers of dharma and adharma. Very interesting. Because nobody can say only I want to be cold or I want to be hot. A mixture. So, if I want to know what is dharma, I should definitely know what is adharma. And of course, if I am following adharma and cognize adharma as such, I must have a complete idea that this is not dharma. So, this is the nature of this world. We can never cognize any one single aspect of life. We have to cognize both male, female, heat and cold, happiness and unhappiness, life and death, good and evil, etc.
All these people believe in certain things. You might have heard some people and they believe in principles or ideals, and they are prepared to give up their life for what they believe. As I mentioned earlier, a person who loves one's country and he thinks I am a desha-bhakta, patriotism is the highest reality. For such a person, this greatest aspect is only love of the country and he is prepared to die for it. And that dying, if necessary, for the sake of the love of the country is the highest reality. And that is what is to be known as Atman or Brahma.
In this background, we will go to a brief analysis because we don't need to dwell on anything.
So, in this 25th Karika, again four different types of thinking are indicated.
Manayati Mano Vidaha.
Everything is mind. God is nothing but my mind.
In fact, even Advaitins, when they say a person through long intense contemplation on Brahman develops one single vritti or thought called Brahmakaravritti. He says even this is according to Advaitins only a thought in your mind. But if somebody thinks this is the highest reality, and that is what in brackets we can call Saguna Brahma. Because Saguna Brahma means what? It is a thought in the mind. How come? Because I am here and I am thinking about my Ishta Devata. I don't feel like becoming one with my Ishta Devata. Until I become one, I am not an Advaitin. I will be Dvaitin. Dvaita means separation. Separation means anything that I think, cognize etc. is an object, and including that of God and God becomes an object. I become the subject. I am superior. God is inferior in that sense. But what do we do when we go to dream state? Any thought that comes becomes a concrete reality and that is what we see it and we cognize it as such and we react to it as such. Our whole reality, concept of reality which is called here concept of the Atman.
So, for many people, for most of us, Manayati Mano Vidaha. Let me explain a little bit because this is a very practical philosophy.
If I come across a person and judge his behavior towards me and label him as a detractor, a criticizer and a blamer, a fault finder of me. If that is my opinion, then certainly that is the reality. So according to that reality, I don't like that person. I don't like to be near him. Even if that person is in need, I may not render any help to him and I avoid his company. On the contrary, if I think somebody is praising me, that's what we call he loves me, she loves me, mother loves me, father loves me. Then our concept will be this person is very good, I want to be as much time as possible with this person etc. etc. Because our desire is called Raaga and Dvesha. Both are desires. Don't think Dvesha is not a desire. Dvesha is an even more powerful desire than Raaga. This desire is I don't want to be anywhere near this person. So, everything depends upon our thinking, or our understanding. What we think this is the reality and that depends upon what we think or judgment of the other person. But most of the time these are called materialists and they believe that the mind is the greatest reality because according to them but for the mind the world of experiences would have been impossible.
Then there are some people, especially a particular school of Buddhism, they are called idealists. What do they believe? Buddhi. Buddhi means understanding that whatever we have an idea in our mind is determined and our ideal that is the knowledge we get of anything. And the peculiarity of this idealist is there is no external reality. It is all what we imagine it to be, think it to be. So, there is no external reality. What is the difference between the first school and this school? For the first school there are objects, we come across them, we experience them, we form opinions of them and our opinion is the reality. Here these people believe there is no outside, there is no world at all. Just like in a way of example we go to dream. What world is there excepting we are only playing with our thoughts. As soon as the thought of a person comes, that person is present. As soon as I think of a particular place, I am in that place, a particular object then there is that particular object or whatever experiences I create them. So, the stance of these idealists is there is no world excepting our Buddhi. These are called idealists.
Then Chitta Mithi Chitta Vidaha.
That is Chitta means some aspect of the mind which has no external forms. What is this one? For the psychologists this is the highest truth. This is what we understand. Freud seemingly discovered this one, which our Yogins have discovered long, long back. And this is the theory. We had many, many births and so many samskaras are being associated of which we are completely unaware. In fact, what we are at the moment is the result of what happened in the past. Not only in this life but 84 lakhs of lives. So, psychologists, they believe that the subconscious or unconscious which is not appearing is guiding what we call conscious, and what we call the conscious is only the tip of the iceberg and the whole mountain is hidden within, and this is called Chitta Mithi Chitta Vidaha. According to Vedanta, Chitta means the repository, the storehouse of memories. After all we are only dealing with memories. There is no doubt about it. How we interpret those memories, that is what the Buddhi will think about that. But some people, deep unknown depths, there is a type of samskara and that is what they believe this is the highest truth. There are people who believe it. I am what I am because of my Purva Janma Samskaras. You are what you are for exactly the same reason.
There is a fourth class, Dharma Dharma Ucha Tadvidaha. There are people and they believe in the scriptures and they believe in the past life. They believe in future life. They live, they believe in what you call lower worlds, hellish worlds, hells, and heavens and then how to escape the hells by not doing what is called Adharma, called Nishedha. The scripture contains only two things, do this and do not do this. Therefore, by following the directions given by the scriptures, if a person behaves accordingly, whole life, without any deviation, then he will acquire Dharma. What does Dharma give? Punya. What is Punya? Like a credit card. If the credit card has got lot of credit, you can book a what is called 7 star or 70 star hotel. You can travel anywhere. And there are people, it seems if they give 50 million dollars, their DNA will be stored and then they ardently believe that scientists are on the brink of bringing back life through DNA and they will reconstruct in a most wonderful manner. So, they are ready to pay this money because otherwise they would have to pay to the governments. Now to escape that one they will buy all these things. There are a few people. So, everything depends upon that.
But what is the idea? If I get Dharma then I will go to Swarga Loka. If I get more Dharma, more Punya, I will go to even higher than Indra Loka. But if I get the most of the Dharma, I will go to Brahma Loka and there the happiness that one obtains is incomparable. So, Dharma Adharmoucha Tadvida, they are convinced.
So, this is another four types of people who believe the highest reality. Only be careful the moment you hear Bhagavan, they don't consciously say Bhagavan, they don't say Atman. But that is the highest reality. How do we know? Because everybody believes only and strives for only the highest reality.
So now we proceed on to another four sets of opinions at the highest reality.
Pancha Vimshakaha Ithyete
Shad Vimshakaha Ithichapare
Ekatra Vimshakaha Ithiyahuhu
Anantha Ithichapare
Again, four different opinions about the highest reality. Some say that the reality consists of 25 categories. Another set of people, who are these people? The well-known Sankhya school of philosophy. Others, they believe that no, no, there is still Ishwara is there and what is called principal categories are 26. How do they come? They are Sankhyas, but they add Ishwara, who are followers of Yoga system of school, the Patanjali Yoga system of school. The only difference is these Yogins, they accept Ishwara. But who is Ishwara? Not what we understand as Ishwara the creator, but he is the Purusha Vishesha. So many Purushas are there. And they choose to call what we call Jivatma, they call it as Ishwara. And what is the speciality? He happens to be the first person to understand that Sankhya philosophy and say I am the Purusha. How many Purushas are there? As many bodies are there, so many Purushas are there. But they believe the first person, first come first served, and he realized that I am a Purusha and he has been kind enough to pass on that knowledge to other people and therefore 25 categories plus Purusha. These are what we call the Patanjali followers of the Patanjali Yoga school of philosophy.
But there are others who conceive it as consisting of not 25, not 26, but 31 categories. Who are they? They are called Pashupatas. They worship Lord Shiva and there are many schools differing among themselves, quarrelling with each other. But their Ishta Devata is Shiva or it is called Pashupati. That is all Jivas are bound creatures. Every bound creature is an animal, Jantu, Pashu. And Lord Shiva, he controls like a shepherd controls all the sheep and that's why he is called Pashupati. And they believe the reality consists of 31 categories. That is, they add another 6 categories to these Sankhyas who follow Yoga system of philosophy. But there are other people who say all of you are wrong. There are actually infinite number. God or Purusha is manifesting as infinite number.
So, anything, everything is only a manifestation of that reality, not one with that reality. But as a part of that reality, all these are Dvaitins. That is those who believe I am not one with the highest reality, he is called a Dvaitin. But he believes everything is real including even non-living also. So, these last class of people are not wanting, who think such categories to be not 24, not 25, not 31 but infinite.
We will go into a brief detail. Who are the first category? These are called Sankhyas. There is a system of philosophy called Sankhya Yoga. And what do they believe? That they believe the whole reality is consisting of 25 categories. What are the categories? Prakruti, Prakruti has become Mahat. Mahat manifested as Ahamkara. Then 5 Sukshma Bhutas called Tanmatras, the 5 organs of perception are Jnana Indriyas, the 5 organs of action called Karma Indriyas. And these sense organs of knowledge, they continuously experience 5 objects. What are they? Shabda, Sparsha, Rupa, Rasa, Gandha. And there is a mind and then there is a Purusha. So, 24 plus Purusha. How many Purushas are there? As many as possible.
But a little bit advanced thinkers among these Sankhyas. They are called Yoga system of philosophy, Yoga. Sankhya and Yoga. Remember there are according to earlier calculation 6 systems of Indian philosophy. That is, Nyaya and Vaiseshika, Sankhya and Yoga, Purva and Uttara Mimamsas. Uttara Mimamsa means what we call Vedanta. And again, Vedanta further is subdivided into dualists, qualified non-dualists and pure non-dualists, Dvaitins, Visishtadvaitins and Advaitins. Now you may get a little bit confused.
These Sankhyas they accept Purusha. Then what is the difference between them and Yogins? The difference, is not only there are Purushas. One particular Purusha who had first was able to know that I am Purusha and everything is Prakruti. And by the understanding of, by the obtaining of that knowledge that I am the Purusha Visesha, I claim that I am the king of all the Purushas. I am a Adiguru, the original teacher. And then I demand that all of you worship me as not merely equal Purushas but somebody a very special type of Purusha, Purusha Visesha. This is the difference between Purusha accepting Purushas and accepting a Ishwara. This is the Yoga system. Then there are Pashupathas, those who are followers of Shiva or Pashupathi. Another title for Shiva is Pashupathi.
To all these categories they add six more. What are they? Raga, Avidya, Kaala, Maya, Niyati and Kala. These are the six. So, 25 plus 6.
So, the Sankhyams, 25 principal categories. 25 plus 6 is 31. These are different concepts.
Mind you when our mind starts believing in something that becomes the highest reality.
Then there is a fourth category called Anantah Iticha Apare. There are still others who believe that the reality is constituted of any infinite number of categories. You see a piece of stone that is also what is called the manifestation of that Purusha only, that reality only, that Atman only. And if you can look upon it properly then that is also the coming only from God. Truly speaking, this is the truth. The knower Brahman, if he sees a mountain, as I mentioned in one of my classes, that Himalayas and is nothing but Haragauri, Shiva and Shakti. Two animals mating with each other is nothing but Shiva and Shakti, Chidvilasa, nothing else but that. So, there are, anything can help us. This is their belief. God bless them! But the point is whether they are right or wrong, that's not the point. We will come to that point. There are mutual contradictions, and they go on quarrelling. I am right, you are wrong and each one is claiming you are wrong and I am right. So, it all proves their belief. We are not saying that what they are stating categorically is wrong. We are saying that what I believe alone is reality. And if really this is believed in, no religion will try to convert other people because that is the special characteristic of Hinduism.
Ekam Sat Viprah Bahudha Ananti.
So, the mutual contradictions among these different schools, contradicting each other and quarrelling with each other, prove their, what is called belief, fallacious character of their theories. Theory is okay. But the fanaticism that this is the only way of expressing truth, that's what Sri Ramakrishna had come, Jato Mat Tato Pat.
You follow your belief and ultimately if you believe this piece of stone is only Lord Narayana and Lord Narayana knows our devotion, our Shraddha, He will slowly purify us and reveal the ultimate reality. What is it? Every door leads to the same infinity. Doesn't matter. Others may call it is narrow, it is false. No. It is the Shraddha that makes the difference whether we progress or not. Not what we believe. Sri Ramakrishna's pithy statement. A man wanted to go to Puri from Calcutta. But thinking that Puri is to the north, he started travelling. But on the way, he went on enquiring because every person endowed with Shraddha, he will be open to seek the truth. So, am I progressing in the right path? And he will humbly beg others, Can you tell me whether I am moving forward? And somebody, who is that somebody? God himself comes in the form of some other person. My good man, you are travelling in the wrong direction. Please go to the right direction. That is why GSP. Every car has got this direction showing Google Maps or whatever you call it. So, this GSP means what? Guru Shishya Parampara. God Shishya Parampara. If somebody is sincere, has started travelling sincerely, he will be definitely reaching it. Sri Ramakrishna gives a beautiful parable to illustrate this fact. Not what we believe, but to believe that that is the truth, it will take me to God. I will do my best to follow what I believe to be the truth and God himself will come in some form or the other and guide me in the proper way. So, like this person, somebody tells you, you are travelling in the wrong direction, go to the South, that is where Puri lies. Now Sri Ramakrishna has given another example. A man wanted to go to a village and he came to a place where the road had forked itself into two ways and then he did not know how to go. And he saw a man there and he asked, Sir, I want to go to such and such a village. Will you please show me, tell me whether I should take the left fork or the right fork? The man did not reply at all. So, the enquirer got a bit tired, disgusted also. So, he started travelling in the wrong path, thinking that will take me to the goal. Immediately the person under the tree, he started shouting, Sir, Sir, Sir, come back. And this person at first did not believe him, but after long shouting by the other person, whom we can consider as a Guru, coming back said, why are you shouting at me? Well, so you are taking the wrong path. That will not take you to the place where you wished to go. You have to take the other path. And then the traveller asked him, why did you not in the first place point out the path to me? He said, so many people come, and they enquire with me. I wasted a lot of time telling, explaining, but they just look at the paths and turn back and go away. So, I decided not to reply to you thinking you might be one of them. But when I saw you are actually travelling, then I know you want to go to that village. So, I wanted to give you the right direction.
That is to say, even if we, by mistake, with wrong understanding, start travelling towards God. Very soon God will come in the form of the right direction showing person called Guru. Guru is what? He who shows me the right direction. And he will come, definitely he will point out and we will have faith in it. But for that the payment we have to make is Shraddha. Doesn't matter which path we travel, but Shraddha is common, sincerity is common to all the travellers. That is important.
Now all these four views about the highest reality and as I said what we consider to be the reality will produce the desire for that particular thing.
We will move on to the Karika number 27.
Lokaha Lokavitaha Prahuhu
Ashrama Iti Tadvitaha
Sri Pum Napumsutam Laingaha
Param Aparam Ata Apare
So, in the Karika number 27, Gaudapada is expressing some other views. Those who know only to enjoy this world, this world means this body, alone is the reality. Pleasure is the only thing that is worth desiring like Virochana. And so let us aim to obtain to squeeze as much pleasure as we can get in this world.
That's why they say Pranam Kritva Gritam Pibet.
That even, if necessary, you buy, you borrow, you steal somewhere or the other and Gritam Pibet. That means you enjoy. Then what about returning the borrowed money, your debts, clearing the debts. He says who cares for that.
Bhasmi Bhutasya Asya Dehasya Punaragamanam Kutaha.
Once this body turns into ashes there is nothing, there is no other world, there is no Dharma Adharma, there is nothing. This is the end of life. There are people and who are those people? Most of us. Because even if we go on telling, shouting that we believe in God, we do Japa, Tapa. But if we are hungry, food is the reality. When we are thirsty, water is the reality. When we come to know a superior sweet has been invented in such and such a shop, that becomes the superior reality. When we come to know that there is almost ninety lakhs of rupees, a driverless car invented by Elon Musk. Without second thinking we go on buying it on the spot. But when it comes to giving charity, then very few people actually give any charity. They will calculate thousand times. Sri Ramakrishna amply illustrates a man spends lakhs of rupees on the marriage of his daughter. But if a beggar comes, my good man, I will give you only four annas because my wife doesn't allow me. So, he goes and tells his wife, beggar has come, I promised him four annas. So will you please give me four annas. And then the wife looks at him glaringly, says do you think money is raining from the sky like Kanakadhara Stava. So here is two annas, if you wish you can give it to him. If he doesn't want, let him get away. Sri Ramakrishna, the greatest observer, he knows all these things. He knows all our weaknesses and yet out of infinite compassion he will listen to our prayers. He will come and definitely help us. So, this is what we have to understand. Lokan Lokavidaha, that is this world alone is real. This world is experienced by our body. This body alone is real. So, you try to nourish this body, to cater to this body, whether it is a dress, whether it is ornaments, whether it is food, whether it is air conditioning, anything that you are capable of. If you are not capable, borrow the money and you don't bother about even thinking how you are going to pay back. Just enjoy. What can they do? They can kill you. Okay, if they kill you, that's okay, but they will go to jail. But I am not going to give that money.
This is called Lokan Atmaha Iti Lokavidaha.
Then there are Ashrama Iti Tadvidaha.
There are people who believe in the Ashrama system. So, what do they do? They think life is meant for gradual evolution. So, we have to spend Brahmachari Ashrama learning Tattvam, then Purushartham, then Hita. Then you experiment and experience etc. These Ashramas become the greatest targets. How to live in the Grihastha Ashrama, how to live in the Vanaprastha Ashrama etc. Then there are some other people, very interesting., these are called Grammarians, Vyakaranais. What do they do? You have to categorize everything as I, You and It. You have to categorize, this is male and this is female and this is the neuter. And you have to calculate, this is one, this is two and these are many.
Sthri Pum Napumsakam Lahingaha.
Lahingaha means gender. Those who believe in gender are the highest reality. Even today you tell to the followers of some religion that God can be a female also. You will be lucky to escape your neck being cut into pieces! And the Judaic religions, the Semitic religions, Abrahamic religions, that is Judaism, Christianity and Islam. You tell them that God can be also a woman. Now you observe, that is the highest reality. What they believe, that is what they think, our scriptures are telling. And the result is women have no place. Let alone think of God as a woman. Even a woman has no place in this world. They do not deserve higher education. They do not deserve any respect. They cannot do many things. They are purely used as missionary to produce children, to look after them and to cook and please the man, the man of the house. And that is all their role. And if they go outside, even their own people are ready to split their heads. You can see every day this kind of news. So, there are people who believe in all these things. This is called Laingas.
Para Aparam Atha Apare.
There is a fourth category. There is a higher, there is a lower and so many things are there. So ordinary people of the world consider the different lokas that we experience the ultimate reality. Therefore, the desire will be, let us go into higher and higher worlds. But then they are also conscious, if I want to go to a higher world, I have to pay for that. And who are these people? These are the people who believe in the Karmakanda etc.
Then there are other people who are obsessed with the four Ashramas.
Chaturvanyam Mayasrishtam Gunakarma Vibhagashah etc.
That are discussed in the Dharmashastras. These people have more faith in Dharmashastras than in the Upanishads. For them everything in life is governed by one status, Ashrama in life. And, therefore, the Ashramas are reality for them. A simple practical example, even today there are some Brahmins and according to them Brahmins are divinely born. And even by birth they are superior to everybody, and they can get everything. Others have no right to get anything. This horrendous situation is still there though it has become much less. This is what we call in India, this caste system, how much it has damaged. How many people, how many numbers of people for thousands of years have been suppressed. That's why Swami Vivekananda's greatest discovery was that the lower caste people and including women, they have been mistreated, they have been taught that you are no more than what we tell you to be. And this is your fate, you have been created by God like that. But as we know the education has brought about a tremendous change. But not in every country. There are some countries who believe, as I just now mentioned, that the caste system may not be there. But what is called gender difference is there, gender discrimination is there, very much it is there. And how much these people are going to suffer, God alone knows. But one point I want to add, even these people who mistreat the women and those who do not belong to their religion, I have to say there are certain things which are really superior than many other people. What do I mean? I mean that nowadays in the name of freedom, what people are doing is unimaginable. What system of caste system or whatever class system, you think of it, has been maintaining for centuries together as everything, without any discrimination of whether it is good or bad has been thrown overboard, and license has been given. It is none of your business. This is my space. This is my freedom. I can do whatever I like. This is my privacy. And in my privacy I am privileged to do anything. Even a husband or a wife cannot intrude into this privacy. This belief is there. This is very much spreading everywhere to the detriment of the whole, not only that person, all the other persons, the whole country and internationally. Somehow this Charvaka system is growing, really speaking. But we have to admire these people. They really believe in the opinions that Gaudapada is telling and they pay the price demanded of them because they sincerely believe in them. These modern people, they do not believe anything at all.
So, there are some people for them Ashramas are only steppingstones to liberation and not ends in themselves. So, that is how they say Brahmacharya Ashrama, Grihastha Ashrama, Vanaprastha Ashrama and ultimately Sanyasa Ashrama ending in Atma Jnanam and then liberation. They are far superior to many people who don't even know about what the system is talking about.
Then there are Grammarians. They say that whole life is to refine ourselves. And for the sake of refinement we will have to make distinction. This is male, this is female and this is neuter and this is number one, this is number two and this is more than number two. So, we have to use words, we have to construct sentences in the proper way. This is called, what we call Samskruti, real culture. That is why Sanskrit language there are three numbers; one, two and three. Each declension has its own separate methodology. Similarly, the male, the female and then the neuter gender, everything is there. That is why in our Vedanta Brahman is addressed as male.
So, Saha Aikshata, he has seen, Sabibheti, he became frightened.
Then the Divine Mother also is nothing but Brahman, what Sri Ramakrishna had called, what you call Brahman, I call as Shakti. Then there are other people. You should not say he or she but Nupumsakalinga, that is beyond the concept of gender. That is what some people think. Especially in the Kena Upanishad. That means that Brahman, that Aksha now became Uma Haimavati in the form of female. And we interpret it as, she came, she is the Saraswati, the Goddess of Wisdom to give us Brahma Gnanam or proper Atma Gnanam. So, there are the Grammarians, and they believe in this particular way of developing life and with sincerity. If they follow what they believe in and make efforts, certainly they are also going to progress. That is going to come in the end Gaudapada is going to issue that statement confirming Bhagavan Krishna's words in the Bhagavad Gita.
There are some other people who consider Parambrahma and Aparabrahma or both of them put together to be the ultimate reality. For example, Sri Ramakrishna says Saguna Brahma and Nirguna Brahma absolutely they are two aspects of the same reality. And there are Visishtadvaitins, for them God with form is the only highest reality. Saguna Brahma, they call it Vishnu or Narayana. But for Advaitins, Nirguna Brahma is the ultimate truth. And for people like Sri Ramakrishna, look here, it is the same Brahman depending upon the state of your mind. Sometimes you would like to separate yourself from that and think that this is my Ishta Devata. And this is what beautifully Madhusudana Saraswati said, before God realization Parambrahma is the highest reality. But once this truth has been realized, that very Parambrahma becomes Poojayogya, completely fit. For what purpose? So that keeping the sense of duality after the realization of non-duality, so that the person, as the Bengali adage goes, I would like to be separate from the sugar, enjoy the sugar, not become the sugar. But who can say that I can enjoy the sugar? Only first you become sugar, then in the cognitive state become separate and say, this is more enjoyable than anything else.
Once Swami Vivekananda happened to be in the Ashrama of Pavahari Baba. And to his great surprise, Swami Vivekananda found Pvahari Baba like any bhakta. There was a beautiful, what is called swing, and there Radha and Krishna very beautifully decorated and Pavahari Baba was swinging them with appropriate stuthis, maybe some songs, I don't know. And Swamiji asked, why do you need all these things? And then Pavahari Baba smiled sweetly and said, why do you think that I am doing all these things? For my own sake? Swamiji understood. What is it? Once a man realizes the highest reality, he can be a Dvaitin, he can be a Visishtadvaitin, he can even afford to be an Astika for the sake of enjoyment. No, no, no, I don't believe you exist. Knowing fully well that he not only believes, he knows about God. So, the highest, according to Sri Ramakrishna, Advaita is the last word in spiritual progress.
Advaita Gnan Anchale Binde Jai Chathai Kuru.
Tying the knowledge of Brahman in the corner of your wearing cloth, upper cloth, do whatever you like. With that knowledge of the highest reality, you can never be bound ever again.
Then the last verse, only three things, three opinions are mentioned, as I said.
So, nine shlokas, nine into four, thirty-six minus one, thirty-five.
Srishti Riti Srishti Vidaha, Laye Iticha Tad Vidaha, Sthithi Riti Sthithi Vidaha, Sarve Chaiyatu Sarvada.
The knowers of creation call it creation. Who are they? Pauranikas. The knowers of dissolution describe it as dissolution. And the believers in maintenance believe it to be subsistence.
Really speaking, Gaudapada ends all these ideas are always imagined in Atman, about Atman, by the Atman, in the form of the mind.
So, let us say, Srishti Iti Srishti Vidaha.
We all know, everyday we sing, Srishti Sthithi Vinashanam, Shakti Bhute Sanatane, Gunashraye Gunamai Narayane Namostute.
The mother is continuously doing Srishti, Sthithi and Laya.
How these people entertain the reality? Supposing a person got married and he is not happy. He wants children. So, he believes in the creation of a child. This is called Srishti. I must get children. Most people are like that.
Laya Itichat Advidaha.
Same householder after the birth of the children, we are the parents, it is our responsibility to bring them up. They sacrifice their whole life for that. All their desires are only about their children, and it doesn't stop there. They also are worried about the children's children and unfortunately if they happen to live a longer time, even the grandchildren, even the great grandchildren, that is what happens.
Laya Iticha Tadvidaha.
Some people think our children should never suffer. They should never undergo any type of hardship. So, whatever money we can earn, they will not enjoy. They themselves will undergo a lot of problems, hardships, but at the same time they keep everything, not knowing that nobody can help anybody else in any way. Whatever one is destined to experience as a result of what we call Karmaphala, it has to be gone through. But yet, we are all under the impression we can help others. We cannot help others. If we help others, we are ourselves helped. That is the only truth.
So, Laya Iticha Tadvidaha.
Some people are obsessed. After death, where am I going? And I must earn only Punyam. I must do Dharmic Karma. Otherwise, my own Karmaphala will catch up with me. So, they are obsessed how not to go to hell and only try to go to higher worlds. Or in this earthly world itself, how to obtain the best things in life. And they believe the only way to do that is to worship God and to obey His commandments and to do Dharmic work and to avoid Adharmic work. All these people, according to their firm belief, they will behave and their belief shapes, their belief sculpts, as it were, their behavior. This is what all of us are slaves to our own opinions.
Sarvecha Iyato Sarvata.
Then, really speaking, all these ideas are superimposed upon the Atman. Remember, Atman means the highest reality. There are some people who are obsessed with Srishti. Some people are obsessed with Stithi. And some others with Laya. Even, I will go so far as to say, a scientist is obsessed with some creative ideas. Every artist is obsessed with creative ideas. And there are governments who want to maintain law and order. They are what we call Stithi, believers in this Stithi. And there are some people accepting what we believe in, everything has to be destroyed. So that is our goal in life. They can become fanatics. They can become terrorists. They can become suicide bombers. Look what a marvelous thing it is Divine Mother is playing!
And Gaudapada, having summarized, he says life is a series of all these different opinions. And as I mentioned earlier, we can change our opinion. When we change our opinion and believe in a particular opinion, and we belong to that school that has been outlined or even it might not have been outlined. So, none of these can be the ultimate truth. This is what Sri Ramakrishna says. Everybody believes his own watch is right but it is only the sun which can give the correct time. So, in this momentarily fleeting universe, none of these three can be the truth. And what could be the truth? That Atman, Brahman, you become one with it, and then you know. So long as we are separate from it, we can have any number of reflections, we can have any number of opinions. Every reflection in the mind is an opinion. So, Gaudapada says, in short, that every group has one misconception. Misconception means like the blind man touching one part of the elephant but under the misconception that that represents the entire elephant. So, it is a common mistake. But ultimately Aham Brahmasmi. That is the highest truth and the Upanishads alone teach this truth. Everyone analyzes everything in the world but never analyzes the analyzer. This is what Yajnavalkya teaches to Maitreya. How will you observe the observer?
Dhrashtaram Atha Ke Dhrshyata
Who is going to see the seer? Because there is no instrument. Every instrument is seen by the seer. Nobody thinks of asking what is the truth, who am I really? And Ramana Maharshi's pathway is find out Koham, who am I? Because this question is not asked. One anatma or the other is taken as reality. So, no useful purpose can be served by the discussion of imaginations which are unreal and illusory.
And we will talk about it in the next class. If there are any questions are there, we will be dealing with it for a few minutes. But be very brief and to the point.